Netanyahu says Iran will pay 'very heavy price' for Israeli civilian deaths
Israel's military says it struck over 80 targets in Tehran overnight.
Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in southern Tehran, Iran on Jun 15, 2025. (Photo: AP)
JERUSALEM:Â Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (Jun 15) that Iran would pay "a very heavy price" for killing Israeli civilians.
"Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children," Netanyahu said during a visit to the site of a missile strike on a residential building in the coastal city of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv.
The death toll in Israel since the attacks began on Friday is at least 13.
Meanwhile, Iranian media said Sunday that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Friday and Saturday was at least 128, including women and children, reporting hundreds more wounded.
At least "128 people were martyred in these military attacks, and around 900 injured individuals were admitted to" hospitals, said Etemad daily, citing the health ministry.
The report said the deaths include at least "40 women", adding that the "number of martyred children is significant".
Iran's responses will be "more decisive and severe" if Israel's hostile actions continue, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, adding that Iran's military has so far responded "strongly and appropriately".
Araghchi described the attack as "an extremely dangerous move", adding that any military activity in the Gulf "could involve the entire region - and possibly the whole world".
Iran and Israel will have peace "soon", US President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Sunday, adding that there were many unspecified meetings happening and that the two countries should make a deal.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores.
"Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal," Trump said on Truth Social, adding that "we will have peace, soon".Â
MORE THAN 80 POSITIONS IN TEHRAN TARGETED
Israel's military said on Sunday that its air force had targeted "more than 80" positions in Iran's capital Tehran in the third day of the most intense confrontation yet between the two arch-foes.
The strikes were conducted "throughout the night", the military said in a statement, and "targeted more than 80 objectives, including the headquarters of the Iranian Ministry of Defense, the headquarters of the nuclear project (SPND), and additional targets where the Iranian regime hid the nuclear archive".
Israel issued evacuation warnings to Iranians living near weapons production facilities in Tehran on Sunday, as the two nations continued to exchange missile attacks that began on Friday.
"The Israeli military will strike these sites and will continue to peel away the Iranian snake’s skin in Tehran and everywhere - targeting nuclear capabilities and weapons systems," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Israel had earlier issued an evacuation warning to Iranians residing near weapons facilities in Iran, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a post on X in Arabic and Farsi.
The spokesperson said the warning included all weapons factories and supporting facilities.
Israel launched its biggest military strike against Iran on Friday, saying its goal was to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and to take out Iran's ballistic missile capabilities.
Iranian media later said Israel attacked a facility affiliated with the defence ministry in the central city of Isfahan, reporting "possible damage".
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Israel's attack on a major gas facility along the Gulf coast was an attempt "to expand the war beyond" Iran.
"Dragging the conflict into the Persian Gulf region is a major strategic mistake, likely deliberate and intended to extend the war beyond Iranian territory," said Araghchi during a meeting with foreign diplomats.
He was referring to the strike on a facility operating at South Pars, located offshore near Iran's southern Bushehr province. The field supplies around 70 per cent of Iran's domestic natural gas.
The South Pars/North Dome mega-field is the largest known gas reserve in the world.
Iran, which shares the massive field with energy giant Qatar, has been developing its side since the late 1990s.
Iranian media reported Saturday a "massive explosion" and fire after an Israeli drone targeted one of the South Pars Phase 14 facilities.
